UK study suggests booster Covid vaccine dose effective against Omicron

A third booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine provides 70-75 per cent protection against symptomatic infection from the Omicron variant, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday. In its latest technical briefing, the agency said that two doses of both the Oxford/AstraZeneca - administered in India as Covishield - and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines provide "much lower levels" of protection against symptomatic infection compared to the currently dominant Delta variant of Covid-19.

However, a third top-up dose does seem to boost immunity against the new variant, based on an analysis of data from 581 Omicron cases. "It is projected that if current trends continue unchanged, the UK will exceed one million infections by the end of this month," the UKHSA said.

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